


... On the other side.

by KisaTM



Series: Fox and Hound [2]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Friendship/Love, Lies, M/M, Master/Pet, Raised in the CCG AU, Regret, Sad, Serious, This is gonna hurt...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 05:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5151428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KisaTM/pseuds/KisaTM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>... I'm sorry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Sometimes fate is cruel. We live our lives in utter bliss, then shit hits the fan. We can't control everything that happens to us. Sometimes it's wiser to accept that the world is unfair and unchanging. People hate change after all, therefore history repeats in an endless cycle of violence, ignorance, and distrust.

Go against the grain or follow the routine. Those are the only choices we have in life, and for those who do the former rather than the latter, misfortune normally befalls them.

This hand of fate grips around Hideyoshi Nagachika's neck tighter than a noose hangs a sinner. He brings the misfortune. Death, lies, and deception, stain his background more than an assassinated conman's coffee covered manuscript. He walks a thinner line than the edge of a katana, between fake innocence and insidious desire. Just as long as he continues to paint over the cracks and stains, with a brush of kindness and smiles, his true nature will remain in the darkness.  


As soon as the light had touched his skin, he began to burn.


	2. Chapter 2

"7-47." The scientist looked over the notes on the young ghoul the CCG recently captured. "Reportedly, a five year old Binkaku picked up by Yukinori Shinohara... Adoptive human parents found dead at scene. Testing revealed the Nagachikas were killed three months prior to the CCG being called to investigate. 7-47, had reportedly devoured eighty-five percent of its adoptive parents bodies and the smell of rot reported by the buildings residents warranted the investigation..."

"Young ghouls are dangerous." A female scientist sighed observing the Binkaku as it was examined by medical staff. "It seems they learn quite quickly that humans have a soft spot if they act innocent. Sometimes this makes them a bigger monster than their full grown counterpart. A large obstacle for younger investigators to face is not to humanize the babies. Even kittens have claws."

"You can drill this into their heads as much as you want." The other scientist put down the report and sighed. "It doesn't mean they will accept it. Mr. Shinohara is an example of this. He loves children and he's compassionate. It's a toxic combination that cost many investigators lives."

"His wife is pregnant, isn't she?" The female scientist said as the ghoul was carted out of the medical room. "It must be hard on him to know that soon he'll have a child of his own. Head office is going to have to reassign him to missions where little ones are not likely to be present. We'll be overrun with young ghouls."

"Well, the project is only allowing a few ghouls to be involved." The other cracked his neck. "We are starting off with only two, then we'll gradually move on. 7-47's ability to learn is also an interesting point of study. It'll obey as long as it believes it's getting the better end of the deal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Hide sat in his cell looking up at the ceiling. There wasn't much to do in Cochlea. He could climb up the walls. Paint them red, or simply stare at them until he could find their faults. The facility was large, bigger than the apartment he shared with the two humans that bought him a few months ago.

He couldn't remember who his parents were, abandoned before he could even walk. The world is harsh and cruel. He liked to think that his father was the devil and his mother a temptress. He could remember wandering the allies of bars, killing the drunks that lined the sides, moaning about how badly their lives were. No one cared that they would die on lonely nights, and no one would suspect the innocent lost child.

A smile curled at his lips. He embraced death as death threaded itself though his skin. He knew that what he did in the past was wrong, but he didn't care. It was the natural flow of life. You're born, then you die. He was just the catalyst for most of the lives poor enough to cross his path. He simply just took joy out of everything. Being twisted by the dark loneliness of the ally, he simply had to make his own light, even if it was darker.  


One day, he hit misfortune of his own. Another of his kind had cornered him in one of his favorite allies. The creature less experienced than him, was amusing. Even though he was very young, he understood the concept of lying. It has kept him out of trouble more than the truth, and was less painful in his limited experience. His capturer was going to murder him, until he let the venom drip from his tongue. The sweet poison reached the other's ear and he found himself in the arms of a human with the purest smile his rotted heart ever saw.

He relished in the fear that followed the happy couple a month later. At first they were entertaining, seeing the positive in everything like him. But, too sweet that it left a bitter taste in his mouth. All humans are the same in the end. They lie, they cheat, and they hold secrets. The female's secret was her many mates, and the male's was his many drinks. They danced around each other upon egg shells. Staying quiet, because he was their observer.

Hide had heard and seen this story many times outside the bars he stalked. The females would flaunt and fall over young males that showed even a hint of interest, well their mates would stumble into his ally. Each salty over the other's problems. Using logic a three year old reasons over a toy they want. Dancing and hollering over things they can't have. The Nagachika couple that brought him home, were no different.  


He found it funny how fear can change a person's outlook on the world in an instant. When he cornered them, they no longer had secrets. They wept in each other's arms, apologizing for their sins. They said their wishes and deepest desires, how they felt about each other. A conversation the couple should have had years ago, but were too conceited and bitter to attempt. The veil of happiness lifted to reveal their shambles of a marriage. All caused in a instant by a child less than a third their size.

Though, he couldn't blame all the lives he took. The human race is as gullible as they are cruel. They are too easily frightened by their darkest desires and thoughts. It's what keeps them in line with their "society", it is those that acted out these immoral thoughts that made them monsters. So naturally they would fear his kind, which rarely put any thought into anything they did.


	3. Chapter 3

Today was like any other. He goes under, the doctors wake him up. The poke around at his organs, ask him questions well they do it. Sew him back up, then tell him to eat a jellied mix of ghoul flesh and vomit. After which they allow him to play alone in a empty room with a few toys. A routine Hide, accepted the moment he arrived.

To his surprise, Hide's day became a little more interesting. Another of his kind shyly walked out of one of the cells into the playroom. The creature only had one eye, and looked frightened. He smelled different from Hide, closer to a human.

Hide got up and introduced himself, to the raven haired creature. The scent intoxicating, as strange. Perhaps for a while this creature could entertain him, until he grew bored.

"Hey do you want to play with the blocks the doctors left with me?" Hide smiled at the naive creature. "We could build a castle! I'll be the princely knight and you can be the beautiful princess!"

"O-okay?" The creature stuttered as Hide lead him to the toy box.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ghoul Tracking Program?" Sediou said looking at the document Shinohara gave him. "What are those crazy scientists thinking? Ghouls are fucking monsters, why waste our time keeping them alive? It'll just be more paperwork..."

"Currently, just Arima and I, are on this program." Shinohara chuckled. "Not many children are caught for study and it may benefit us more then you know. Besides, it will make a great thesis for your exam if you agree to the program as well. You can directly interact with a ghoul, without going out on the field."

"I'll think on it." Sediou sighed. "By the way, I hear you're going on a raid on a restaurant soon. Are you excited?"

"More nervous than excited." Shinohara smiled. "Big operations like this always turn up more disturbing things about the ghoul underworld, than you'd think. I seen documents that report this one may involve captured humans. Hopefully they can recognize that we are their friends. I would hate for innocent lives to be taken."

"Just because they are human, doesn't mean they are innocent." Sediou gathered his things. "We should get going. Akira owes me lunch and she is very particular about the times she eats."


	4. Chapter 4

Hide's time with his new play mate was cut short. The creature, who calls himself Kaneki, was ill fated to meet his master. In the back of Hide's mind he wondered if Kaneki was truthful or a liar like him. It was entwined with the very being of one's nature to not be entirely trustworthy, but the quiet and gentleness that just oozed off of Kaneki, made Hide second guess himself.

Unlike everyone else he was involved with in his short life, Kaneki seemed to be the only one that he felt was genuine in every stuttered word he spoke. Of course he was hiding things. You can coat shit in honey all you want, but it's not going to change the fact that it's shit. Kaneki has captured his interest. Like a bee stinger caught in a too curious of kitten's paw, it frustrated Hide that he couldn't read Kaneki like a open book. The creature was too closed and sealed, for him to judge straight away. How badly did, Hide just want to rip the gentle creature apart and see through his soul.

Kaneki was a mystery novel, sealed with a cipher of ten thousand languages. He just needed to find the right combination that would unlock him, and then he could indulge to his dead heart's desire. He just needed something that would grease the wheel... So he decided to become Kaneki's best friend, by any means possible.

"Patches!" The human that dared to force Hide to call his master ran into his cell. His true owner, Mr. Shinohara standing behind the energetic human, just shook his head as Hide was squeezed. During his time in Cochlea, Hide had to put up with this child's idiotic attempts at 'playing' with him. Juuzou was the kid's name and he definitely wasn't Hide's favorite human to deal with. Mostly because the human knew more then he should of how Hide thinks. "We are going to have so much fun today!"

"I'm sure we are..." Hide rolled his eyes in Juuzou's hold. "I'm sure we are..."

"And if you good..." Juuzou whispered in his ear. "I won't tell the doctors about you stealing lab equipment again... So let's have fun today."

"Bastard." Hide growled under his breath. He hated going to the torturer and having the things he smuggled to his cell removed. He was trying to escape since day one, but Juuzou would always call him out. It pissed him off, but not even the torture could make him admit his true motives. He would always just play it off as being a kleptomaniac.

"What was that?" Juuzou said in a sing song voice. "I didn't catch that."

"I said, yes master." Hide fought the vomit that threatened his throat. His internal screams of frustration concealed behind a sweet smile and nod. "Let's have lots of fun today."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was no secret to Juuzou that the ghoul Shinohara was assigned to, was a rat. The moment they met, Juuzou outright called the Binkaku out on his deceptive personality. To a regular person, the ghoul seemed like a happy, curious five year old child. But, under that sunny exterior was something sinister. A hatred that Juuzou knew too well and harbord still towards his mama.

It didn't mean Juuzou didn't like the ghoul. In fact he loved spending time with it. It liked playing tricks on people, like he does. The lies it told were amusing and the ghoul would come up with the best stories. Juuzou felt joy, seeing the darkness in the Binkaku's eyes shift to fake brightness. It was like a sunflower that would follow the new moon's light, rather than the sun as the name intended. It was unique and different. Yet, it was slowly dying inside.

"Juuzou! Keep your head up." Shinohara called, as the little ghoul charged.

"Oh!" Juuzou laugh backflipping away. "You almost got me!"

"Are you sure about that?" The Binkaku smiled. It's Kagune had managed to wrap around Juuzou's leg. The ghoul jumped and flipped Juuzou around, slamming his back against the cold marble floor. The ghoul's Kagune let go as it landed just a few feet away.  
"A point for me!"

"You play dirty." Juuzou smirked getting up. "I don't have a tail like you."

"The human jelly now?" The Binkaku chuckled swaying the tentacle back and forth. "Good thing I like you, in a real fight you'd be dead."

"You speak alot of shite for a pipsqueak." Juuzou swung the metal practice pole at the ghoul. "One day, I'm going to have to hold you to that."

"You don't scare me human." The ghoul glared having jumped onto the pole. It started charging, but Juuzou simply flung it against the side wall. "Dammit!"

"I'll take that point, thank-you." Juuzou smiled leaning on the pole. "Don't tell me you tired already? I thought you wanted to have fun today?"

"I-I'm just getting started!" The ghoul suddenly launched itself towards him. Skillfully dodging attacks and almost getting past guards.

Their spar lasted for a good two hours, before the ghoul gave up. It's small body, just not ready to fight any longer. Juuzou simply laughed as the Binkaku finally passed out. It was feisty for it's age, but even the ghoul had limits.


	5. Chapter 5

Getting to Kaneki's heart was more difficult the Hide could imagine. As children, the raven haired creature pretend to be so innocent, Hide concluded that he believed his own lies. A mark of a master deceiver. If Hide wasn't one himself, he would have fallen for that charm long ago.

The half-truths Hide would confess to Kaneki, seemed to slowly rip through his stitches. But, it wasn't enough. Kaneki had a thick leather coat with many layers covering his soul. The more Hide ran his stitch ripper through the many threads that was Kaneki, the more leather coats he found. This fascinated and annoyed Hide to no end.

He was going to break that soft shell. One way or another. Kaneki was his muse, the muse he wanted to shove his hand through it's chest and pull out it's jeweled heart. He just had to do it in away that Kaneki wouldn't kill him.

Growing up, he knew Kaneki was going to be the physically stronger one. His RC type were just naturally powerful, but Hide knew Kaneki's willpower was his RC type's weakness. His kind breaks easily under pressure and can easily tier if they focus too much on their Kagune. With just enough push and doubt, Hide might be able to pry open Kaneki's protective rib cage.

Well that's what he planned. Then as his father would have it, Kaneki's life turned sour and stole his chances of owning the creature's soul. The amazing cruelty of humanity truly knows no bounds as Hide watched the strands of raven feathers fade into snow. Now what story did Kaneki have to tell, when the humans already had broken him?

For the first time the stone that was his heart, trembled. The one he tried so delicately mold and unfurl, suddenly broken. Pulled away from his clutches, resealed with a hundred more cipher locks, and out to burn like a witch. No longer did Kaneki fake his innocence.

"Kaneki! That's enough!" Hide failed retrained the creature's arm as it collided with the other's skull. "Great now he's crying! Kaneki, I told you to stop!"

"Let go of me!" Kaneki barked. "He was talking shit about you again! Just twenty-four to go!"

"I don't care if he has twenty-four bones left!" Hide pulled him away as the other was visually fading in and out of awareness. "He's had enough!"

"Hide, were you listening to the asshole?" Kaneki turned around and looked him in the eyes. Oh, how the stone trembled again at those mismatched eyes. "No one disses my best friend!"

"Kaneki, it's okay." Hide sighed. "I don-"

Everything went dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The collars were the best idea they came up with. All ghouls instantly hit with suppressants. The Rinkaku giving researchers a perfect opportunity to test them. Though after examination it was determined to be used as a last resort.

The ghouls were moved to their cells and given a contractive. Within a few moments most of the ghouls were awake and wandering their cells.

"Hmm, readings from the collars indicate hormonal imbalance in both 12-38 and 7-47 before they were incapacitated." One of the scientist said looking at her console. "I can't tell if this is cute or disturbing for both of them to be responding to each other in this fashion."

"It's definitely the cause for many of 12-38's outbursts." Another said. "It's body has even changed more towards mimicking a female than a male. Last exam on it's body showed an increase of estrogen in it's system, suggesting why compared to the other male Rinkaku, its smaller size and softer features. Its biologically adjusting to accommodate its chosen partner."

"Ah, female aggression. I can see the confusion now." The other chuckled. "The boys put on colourful shows, but it's the girls that like to scrap. Though how can we handle this? We can't simply move it to the female group. It's still has very male characteristics and I don't think it will respond to the stimulants as well as the females do."

"We'll continue to monitor it for now." The other sighed as he wrote up his report. "If aggression increases or any other unusual problems appear, we'll have to isolate it. It's going to piss off the guys down on the GTP administration, to have their best tracker on lockdown. But, we can't have a sexually frustrated unstable ghoul endangering staff. We already are muzzling it for Ui's team's safety..."


	6. Chapter 6

This was infuriating. If only Arima, didn't leave when he did, Kaneki wouldn't have suffered through all of this. A few weeks ago Kaneki came running to him. Crying about accidently endangering a human female and being shot before he could get her to safety. 

Then Ui happened.

The gossip had spread fast through Cochlea, about Kaneki being a dangerous fool. Whispers of him going rabid and disobeying the humans. No news slipped by Hide, in fact a Ukaku RC type from level four had told him the bulk of what the rumors were and where they were coming from. According to her, humans from Ui's team were spreading lies throughout the CCG and not just Cochlea. The whole squad didn't like the GTP, and wanted to break the program, by driving the participants mad.

As time went on and Kaneki became worse and worse, he was eventually removed before Hide had the chance to tell him what was happening. The males and females, are separated and Hide was only able to get this infomation on his last outing. Everyone was upset of the corruption the humans in Ui's team were spreading. The GTP had saved many of them from dieing out on Tokyo's streets and it was just beginning to expand outside of the city.

Eventually a small group, Hide included, had formed to expose what the corrupt humans were doing. They hoped it would save the GTP and the lives that depended on it. Hide hoped that Kaneki would join them, as he would be the only Rinkaku RC type that could prove that their kind had the capacity to understand the values the GTP promoted. The rest of his RC typing either turned down the offer or refused to overcome their pride and work with the Binkaku RC typing.

"Mr. Arima." Hide sighed and gave a small smile to Arima. "Please don't let them kill Kaneki. He hasn't had the best life, but he doesn't deserve a lame death. If anything I think he'd prefer to go well in service over being starved in a cage."

"I'll keep that in mind..." Arima remarked. Somehow he seriously doubted the human's ability.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ghoul had escaped Cochlea. The staff knew one day that Rinkaku 12-38 would try to break out. But, they didn't plan for it to develop such an advanced Kakuja shell. They planned to move the ghoul to the SSS level, where ghouls of it's intelligence could be safely restrained and studied.

Investigation of the temporary cell revealed that the ghoul's saliva had become acidic. It literally licked it's way out of containment. After getting into the main room it smashed the hand scanner and was able to open the lockdown doors for the room. It quickly made it's way into the main control for sector 12 and killed everyone that was currently inside. The ghoul cut off the video feed and automatic locking mechanisms on the sector's inner doors.

It was a horrid mess to clean up. None of the ghouls or staff had survived. Surprisingly this cause many of the investigators and scientists that worked with the ghouls to break down. They had known then since a young age and now laid dead, because they made the error of containing an intelligent and mad ghoul in an inappropriate containment.

"We'll have the Binkaku go up ahead." The commanding officer announced. "Patchi, Soda, and Left Crane, will search wards twenty-four to twenty. Mink, Scarecrow, and Comet, will search wards five to ten. Kint, Ice, and Yellow Brick, will remain in the, forth, third, first, and second wards."

"Awe yeah!" Juuzou cheered holding his Binkaku's leash. "We get to work with Sediou's team, Patches!"

"For the last time, I don't like Touka or her brother, Juuzou." The ghoul huffed. The Binkaku had to work with the twins on occasion and found their bickering annoying. Whether it was natural hate or born out of the many failed missions the ghouls went on, the Binkaku did not enjoy cooperating with them.

"Come on, Rabbit and Blacky love you!" Juuzou nudged the ghoul's arm. "Sediou, even got Blacky to stop flipping people off! Besides, they are just back up. Haise is a cuddle monster, I bet they aren't even going to be needed when we find him! I bet he'll just glomp right onto you and we can all go home and have cake!"

"Juuzou, Kaneki is going to be killed when we find him." The ghoul sighed adjusting his harness and grabbing the muzzle the CCG was forcing the ghouls to wear. "I rather not get my hopes up that your superiors are going to overlook this, because he's suddenly friendly. Besides, I doubt he's going to be forgiving."

"Yo, Juuzou!" Sediou walked up to him dragging the two Ukaku with him. The twins were trying to get in a fight. Either the male twin was trying to get it's muzzle off and it's sister was trying to stop it, or it's sister was trying to adjust the muzzle and the male wasn't having any of it. "So I was thinking, when Patchi finds Centipede, I'll get Rabbit to distract him and Blacky can trap him. You then can deal the final blow. Centipede won't know what hit him!"

"Why can't we just bring Haise home?" Juuzou asked, glancing at his ghoul that was looking sadly off into the distance. "He's just confused and scared."

"Juuzou, that ghoul destroyed sector 12." Sediou shook his head. "I already have to deal with Casey's wailing over losing Brute. Heck even Shiki's Koukaku, Ducky is upset Brute is dead and won't leave his cell. Centipede is dangerous and it's time he is... Retired..."

"Squad 15." They were called. "Please proceed to the vans once your ghouls are properly muzzled."


	7. Chapter 7

The van ride was uncomfortable. The twins kept fidgeting in the corner of Hide's eye, well he tired to focus out the small bared window. The sun was beginning to set, and the hues of pink and orange slowly mix in the greenish Tokyo smog. Before long the comforting inky blackness of the night sky would cover the city. Hide felt like his stomach was going to flip inside out, with every bump they hit his head became more light.

They stopped at the edge of the twenty-forth ward. To many feral creatures, the ward was a safe haven. It was incredibly hard to track targets in the ward, do to the smell of different bloods that layered heavily in the air. Even humans could smell the thick iron in the air. Along with the many allies and abandoned buildings, it was dangerous territory to navigate, as you could be ambushed suddenly.

Hide somewhat hoped Kaneki had made it past the city limits instead. He was quick and probably knew that leaving Tokyo was his best shot of getting out of this alive. His best friend could hide for years if need be in the wilds of Japan or jumping from towns and cities around the country, before the CCG could even be authorized to allow the GTP units to extend past Tokyo's borders. But, on the other hand, Kaneki wasn't the Flash. He had to navigate carefully through Tokyo's streets to not be spotted and maybe even climb over roof tops, just to remain concealed. He escaped in broad daylight, so he would have been moving slowly.

Hide left the van and waited for everyone to get in position. One of the humans put a piece of fabric with Kaneki's scent on it, in front of his muzzle. It wasn't really needed for him, though it got Cale and Martian excited. The humans discussed their plans as the tracking device on the collars were synced. Like every mission, the humans would run towards whichever creature stopped in a certain area for a long period of time.

Sometimes the squads he was apart of, would jump the gun and catch up to him before he had the chance to corner or find anything. This would lead to targets running even further away or him completely losing the trail. It was more so when working with Touka and Ayato, their impatience would lose him targets. If it wasn't for his sunny attitude about everything, Hide knew his days on the program would have been numbered.

"Okay!" Sediou called out. "Start!"

Hide bolted into the alley when Juuzou unhooked the lead. The human bounded after him, though even given Juuzou was more acrobatic, he couldn't match Hide's speed. Soon the unit would lose him and they would have to rely on the tracker. Hide ran until the investigator's scent melted with the background of the mildew in the allies, before slowing.

"Screw this, I'm not going to get Kaneki killed." He panted, ripping off his muzzle, and pulled out a key he pickpocketed off one of the humans. "I still need answers from the creeten. That's why I put up with this shit for fifteen years..."

He used the key to unlock his collar and pounced on a stray dog that just happened to be walking down the alley. He put the collar on the animal and let it take off. That would keep the humans off his ass just long enough to reach Kaneki, hopefully before Cale or Martian could.

The freedom of the wind felt good against Hide's collarless neck. He felt less sick and could breath in more freely. It was always too tight around his neck, a few times when he was younger he feared Juuzou was going to accidently hang him. Eventually the leads were put on harnesses, as lots of the creatures that eventually joined the GPT program would choke themselves. Though it didn't mean his collars were any less tight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The sky was dark. Weather warnings for that day suggested a heavy down pour later that night, and the flickers of light that outlined the dark clouds wasn't comforting. Sediou's unit was hoping to wrap this up quickly. Rain ment the ghouls senses would be dulled and if it was as heavy as predicted, it would be hard to fight the Rinkaku.

Juuzou was the first to run after his ghoul, when asked on the radio he stated something about the Binkaku acting weird. Eventually the unit caught up to him leaning against the alley wall looking quite sad. 

"What happened Juuzou?" Sediou asked him. "Lose, Patches already? It's not exactly a game of hide and seek, just use the tracker."

"Hide is gone." Juuzou sighed and seemed to get out of his sad expression. "Well, it was fun while it lasted!"

"Don't be silly." Sediou looked at his tracker. "See, he's only a building over... And headed towards us?"

Looking up a large stray dog came bounding down the alley at full speed. One of the Ukaku ghouls grabbed it, stopping it. Around the animal's neck was the blinking tracking collar. Only further confirmed as Sediou's tracker was beeping loudly. Another officer on his unit took off the collar and the frightened dog took off again.

"The son of a bitch..." Sediou growled under his breath and turned to Juuzou. "You knew Patches was going to do this!"

"It was head offices fault for letting Hide out." Juuzou shrugged. "I thought it was obvious to everyone, he wasn't really cooperating with us... Anyway, I wonder if there is a good ice cream shop is still open around here?"

"Juuzou!" Sediou yelled as the boy walked away. "You're still on duty!"

"If you want to break someone's heart, it's your funeral." Juuzou waved. "I'm done for today. Join me for a treat later, senpai."


	8. Chapter 8

The wind and rain really picked up. It seemed Raijin and Fūjin, were at war tonight. Thunder cracked as the rain ran like razors against Hide's face. To lesser creatures, Kaneki's scent would be lost in this mess. Cale and Martian, probably returned to their masters or are hiding from the storm.

Of all the times Hide was outside with Kaneki when they were little, Kaneki always would mention he wished it would rain everyday. Hide would ask him why, since the sun was so warm and friendly. Kaneki always would reply with a gentle smile and tell him, unlike the sun, storm clouds were alive and always changing. Hide never understood this side of Kaneki, the side that saw beauty in the obscure.

As the rain poured in buckets upon the earth, and the sky flashed, he found himself on the edge of a junk yard just inside of the twenty-fourth ward. Hide stopped and listened. One of the things that defined him from the rest of creatures looking for Kaneki, was his hearing. He closed his eyes and focused. The splash of rain upon the old tin, a pile of trash re-adjusting itself, a heartbeat and hushed breath. Hide's eyes snapped open.

"Kaneki." Hide said and for a moment only the rain could be heard. Then out from behind an old car, a creature with a purple mask and two shelled tails crawled out. It stared at Hide, though it's single eye.

"You shouldn't be here..." The creature spoke. Their breath fading into the cold air as the rain lightened slightly. "They will kill us both."

"Kaneki... I." Hide started.

"You know, I thought this world was black and white at one point." The creature continued. It sat on the trunk of the rusted car. "Ghouls are bad, humans are good. We live to die. You know, the same story the CCG rammed down our throats and prayed we wouldn't bite their hands. I ran it through my mind many times. I was ashamed of who I was... Who I am."

"Kane-"

"Then I came to a conclusion." The creature looked up at the rumbling sky. "Now, you may think this is insane and maybe I am, but I think what the CCG taught us a load of shit. No matter what we did, or said, we were just these mindless monsters. No one cared if we died for them. Nothing that they said meant anything. We were lied to for fifteen years."

"Kaneki I really-"

"Hide." The creature said sternly. "I'm horrible... My existence is just to kill others. Other ghouls, other humans, just kill. It doesn't matter if Arima is telling me to kill or Ui, in the end I kill. I'm no different from the quinque they carry... We both are."

"Kaneki!" Hide yelled. The creature finally looked him in the eye. "Kaneki, you're not horrible! Your the kindest, and most selfless person I have ever met. Even though you were hurt over and over again, you were concerned for the person hurting you! I-I'm the horrible person! For years I thought you were just putting on a show, so humans won't kill you! I thought of thousands of reasons and motives you could of had. All of them terrible and rotten... But, you know what I finally learned after fifteen years?!"

"..." The creature cocked its head to the side.

"I learned that I was wrong." Hide took a breath and sighed. "And I was stupid to think the way I did of you... Because in the process of realizing this, I made another stupid mistake..."

"Hide?" The creature spoke his name quietly.

"I fell in love..." He smiled tears threatening his eyes. "I fell in love with my best friend. Kaneki. I fell in love with you. I'm the horrible one. I'm sor-"

"Hide!" His vision spun and faded as Kaneki caught him. "Hide! Please, no!"

"K-Kaneki..." He tried to look up, but all he saw was white. "... Let's go... Home..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rouge ghouls were found at the edge of the twenty-fourth ward, at four hundred hours. The rain had lightened enough for the two other Binkaku to find them. Without notice, an investigator shot ghoul 7-47 in the back. The medical team would report later that the RC bullet had fatally passed through the lung and destroyed the ghoul's heart. Almost killing it instantly.

12-38 started to freak out, but was quickly re-captured. It was taken back to Cochlea to have it's unique Kakuja examined and studied. This time in the depths of the SSS level. Arima went on to do an internal investigation on why 12-38 had went crazy.  


The ghoul for days after the incident was barely responsive. Like it was in a trance, staring off into space for hours. Most of the time it wouldn't even respond to it's name.

Three months passed and 12-38 refused all food. It became so weak, it couldn't move from it's cell's cot. The medical staff moved it to a hospital bed, too weak to fight them. They tried force feeding it, then moved to tube feeding it. But, no matter what they did, the ghoul continued to weaken. Then one day it just didn't wake up and it's heart stopped.

Arima's investigation had only pulled up doubt that was shared with the Ghoul Tracking Program. With the male Rinkaku for the program now dead, lots of investigators involved refused to take on raising new ones. The knowledge that at anytime one of them could snap, was too taxing on them. Too many were attached to the ghouls they raised from childhood, and re-signed from the program.

Ui Koori, then stepped in and purposed a completely new experiment. Using ghouls as disposable fodder for raids. No longer would they need to raise ghouls and become attached. They simply just offer the ones they captured, shelter and food, as long as they assist. Once they exhaust their usefulness they could be killed off.

The higher levels of the CCG accepted this new program, despite the protests of the former GTP participants.


End file.
